Lucrative opportunity for an inventor?

[magicsurfbus]

I rescued the MH from sub-zero outdoor storage Hell recently and brought it home for a spell on the EHU to try and stop the batteries going flat. I wasted a decent quantity of de-icer and broke our only plastic kitchen spatula removing a centimeter of solid ice from the solar panel. Why solar panels are installed perfectly horizontal is beyond me as they pool water which rapidly turns into ice, and blocks what little sunlight there is in winter.

So it struck me there has to be a potential money spinner out there for the first person to invent a low cost self-defrosting solar panel frame. We have tank heaters, so why not solar panel heaters?

 

[The Wino]

Why bother scraping it it will melt in time it might scratch easily and you were putting it on a hook up!!!!

 

[PP Bear]

 

[Blue Knight]

I use the 'Mark-1 Wife' for all defrosting duties. It is waterproof and will work in sub-zero temperatures when you shout at it.

It works for me.

 

[Wildbill]

clear plastic sheet over it when snow ice build up just peel back plastic sheet taking in to concentration the environment when disposing of it
bill

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[magicsurfbus]

Why bother scraping it it will melt in time it might scratch easily and you were putting it on a hook up!!!!

Because it's going back to outdoor storage tomorrow and I'd rather have it working a bit than not working at all. It's not going to snow every day but it could remain cold enough for ice to stay on it for a while. Every little helps.

 

[BusyBuilder]

We need a company like IQE (google it, Welsh company) to manufacture a multi layer solar panel.

 

[Minxy]

Rather than scrape it off you could just have poured some warm water over it and watch it simply melt away ...

 

[eddie]

Park the camper in the garage and the solar panel doesnt get snow on it!

 

[Ralph-n-Bev]

We’ve fitted a tap at the front and back of our house. Well Ralph has....
Anyways the front has a hose attached to fill up Pug for our travels. The backs for the planters.
BUT this hose ( at the front ) also comes in handy to defrost Ralph’s pick up, my car and our two boys cars. pug never gets iced up as he’s down the bottom of the drive between ours , next doors and the garage.
We’ve also stretched the hose to the house next door in the past. To do theirs! Cold water , so it won’t crack the glass.

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[John & Joan]

I had an outside tap at my old house plumbed so it could run either hot or cold from switchover inside.

 

[Louis]

Well I have invented a heater for this purpose! Now I only need to invent a good solar panel to charge my flat batteries !

 

[eddie]

The reality is that if it is cold enough for a solar panel to be covered in ice the solar panel will be producing diddly squat in real terms

'If' and when the Sun comes out, high and strong enough to make a significant difference the ice will soon melt

 

[carolyn]

Why don't you park it on levellers to make a slight incline then the water will run off?

 

[magicsurfbus]

I notice the frame of the panel is painted white, and was wondering if painting it black might help clear morning frost a bit quicker. Not ice obviously, but every little helps.

One solution would be a temporary net or mesh using similar technology to a heated rear windscreen.

Park the camper in the garage and the solar panel doesnt get snow on it!

Or sunlight (haha), even if we had a 3.5m tall garage

Rather than scrape it off you could just have poured some warm water over it and watch it simply melt away ...

Or crack. It was -7C the other day.

Why don't you park it on levellers to make a slight incline then the water will run off?

Don't want to leave the handbrake on for long periods in storage. I park it with the handbrake off.

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[dave newell]

One solution would be a temporary net or mesh using similar technology to a heated rear windscreen.

Heated screens draw anywhere between 10 and 30 amps. Your batteries would be flat before the recent snowfall has melted away.

D.

 

[eddie]

Heated screens draw anywhere between 10 and 30 amps. Your batteries would be flat before the recent snowfall has melted away.

D.

Dave Duh! Didn't you know that a 80 w solar panel on the roof guarantees unlimited 12 volt power 365 days a year!

 

[magicsurfbus]

Heated screens draw anywhere between 10 and 30 amps. Your batteries would be flat before the recent snowfall has melted away.

D.

..which neatly sums up why I have never made it as an inventor

 

[dave newell]

Dave Duh! Didn't you know that a 80 w solar panel on the roof guarantees unlimited 12 volt power 365 days a year!

Not when it's covered with fourteen inches of snow Eddie.

D.